Choosing Our Breeder

            Choosing where to get Bumble Bee was a long process. I spent around six months combing the country for the right breeder. Every time I saw a golden retriever, I would ask the owner how old the dog was and what breeder they chose. I looked at hundreds of dog Instagrams asking where they got their dogs. After months of research, I applied to get Bee from Sunnyside Goldens of Eden. The two most important factors for me were health and socialization. I will describe later why those two factors meant so much to me and how Sunnyside Goldens met those needs. I cannot stress enough how happy I am with the decision to get Bee from Sunnyside. It was perfect for us and our situation.

            However, I want to preface this article with acknowledgment that we chose a breeder instead of adopting. Choosing to adopt or shop is a choice that comes with a lot of charged emotions. I want to say that I do believe in adoption, and I think adoption is a truly beautiful process; but it was not the right choice for me with this dog. However, I believe that if you are choosing not to adopt you need to have a very strong reason. I will discuss these reasons in depth below. I was on the veterinary path in college, and I have seen a lot of the dog-selling industry through my experience working at clinics. Everyone has the right to make their own decision as long as it is an educated choice. I am happy with the route I chose, but I do live with the fact that I could have adopted a dog and did not.

            I chose to get my dog from a breeder and not from a rescue for many factors. The first is that I wanted a golden retriever. The reason for this is because I grew up with golden retrievers. Getting a dog is a huge responsibility, and a decision that you are held to for the dog’s whole life. For my first dog, I wanted to have a breed that I had experience with in terms of temperament and health concerns. This would make the massive responsibility a little more predictable. Now, there are many rescues that specialize in golden retrievers, and I have even volunteered for a few. However, I wanted my dog from puppyhood. I have never had a golden retriever puppy before because Libby was a baby when I was a baby and we adopted Abby when she was 1 year old. I wanted the experience. The experience was worth not adopting for me, and I live with that decision. Now, I will discuss how I chose my breeder.

            As mentioned prior, one of my biggest factors in picking a breeder was choosing someone that valued health. My first golden retriever, Libby, died before she was ten because she had a tumor in her heart. My second golden, Abby, unexpectedly dropped dead in our house when she was 7 years old. We decided against an autopsy because we wanted her body untouched, but the veterinarian believes it was a form of cancer or a hereditary condition. I never got to say goodbye to Abby. These deaths followed me my whole life. Because of my two prior experiences with a dog’s life expectancy, I wanted my next golden to have the best ancestry of health as possible. Responsible breeding is breeding for health. A responsible breeder only breeds dogs with an ancestry of long life, with healthy OFA scores and with an ancestry of no hereditary diseases. Going to a puppymill or an irresponsible breeder is supporting a toxic system of breeding for money instead of breeding to better the breed. If you don’t know your puppy’s parent’s and grandparent’s health records, your breeder is not looking at health very carefully, and that should be an indicator to go somewhere else. If you are having a hard time finding a responsible breeder, you can use the American Kennel Club website as a resource. It is your responsibility to do the research. When I chose to get Bee from Sunnyside and not adopt, I was certain that Sunnyside bred dogs to make the breed healthier and for the love of dogs. Looking back now, I still feel 100% certain that Sunnyside runs a responsible and loving breeding program. I would recommend them to anyone for this reason.

            That being said, there are many breeders that look at OFA scores and health, so what made Sunnyside stand out to me? I read the chapter on socialization in the book discussed all over our website, Puppy’s First Steps: A proven approach to raisinga happy, healthy, well–behaved companion by the faculty of veterinary medicine at Tuft’s University. After reading the socialization chapter which discusses the importance of socialization between week 1 and when you pick up your puppy, I knew Sunnyside Goldens was my breeder. I would argue that the reason Bee was an easy puppy and grew to be an easy dog is because of the early socialization he received at Sunnyside. He was constantly around the family that runs Sunnyside Goldens (a mom, dad and five kids). He was introduced to their family dogs that are friendly, loving and patient with the pups. He was even around the family’s cat! Once he was old enough, he was introduced to many different people: young, old, loud, quiet, long hair, shorthair, etc. If your puppy only interacts with women for 8 weeks, you can imagine their surprise at meeting a man for the first time. They may exhibit fear out of the unfamiliarity. Sunnyside does everything they can to help the dogs be adaptable and have a variety of experiences. They even expose the dogs to different types of objects: plush toys, hard toys, grass, dirt, wood flooring, tile, outside, inside and in their home. Again, this may seem silly to say; but by facilitating positive experiences when the puppies are introduced to something new, Sunnyside is socializing the puppies to be brave and adaptable. It is one thing for a breeder to tell you that they are socializing puppies, but Sunnyside posts on their Instagram almost every day of the puppies. I was not reassured over the phone or by email how Bee was being socialized, I knew what he was doing because I saw it. This was the factor that made me commit to Sunnyside Goldens of Eden.

            I am so happy and fortunate to have gotten Bumble Bee from Sunnyside Goldens of Eden. They gave me a healthy, happy and adaptable puppy. Ever since Bee was a puppy, we received compliments like “he’s so chill” or “your puppy is so well trained.” My response was always something along the lines of “it was all his socialization as a puppy.” Sunnyside Goldens set Bee up to be a good and healthy boy. I am so grateful to them for giving me my best friend and for taking care of him so well before I got him. I cannot say enough good things. This article only scratches the surface on the greatness of Sunnyside Goldens of Eden. When looking for a breeder of your own, I implore you to look at health and socialization carefully. It will benefit you in the long run of dog ownership.